Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/375

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the state legislature, 1878-79, and of the senate, 1880-81. In 1883 he was elected the first mayor of Maiden, and did much to promote its pros- perity, his most important gift being the public library building. He was a trustee of Wellesley college. He was married Sept. 4, 1843, to Mary D., daugliter of Captain Hosea and Ursula Ed- munds of Thompson, Conn.

CONVERSE, Francis Bartlett, journalist, was born in Richmond, Va., June 23, 1836; son of the Rev. Amasa and Flavia (Booth) Converse; grandson of Joel Converse of Lyme, N.H., and a descendant of an old New England familj', who ■came from England to Woburn, Mass., in 1630. He was graduated at the University of Pennsyl- vania in 1856, and at the Princeton theological seminary in 1860. He was ordained to the Pres- byterian ministry and supplied Olivet church, New Kent county, Va., 1861-62. His father had been editor and publisher of the Christian Ob- server in Philadelphia, Pa., and in Richmond, Va., from 1827, and he became associate editor, Jan. 1, 1858. In 1869 they removed the office of publication to Louisville, Ky., where his father died Dec. 9, 1873, after which event the sons as- sumed entire control of the Observer, recognized as the leading weekly in the Presbj'terian church in the south. He was married to Ellen, daughter of Dr. George William Pollard of Hanover county, Va. He received the degree of D.D. from Hamp- ton-Sidney college in 1896.

CONVERSE, Harriet Maxwell, author, was born in Ehnira, N.Y. ; daughter of Thomas and Maria (Purdy) Maxwell; granddaughter of Guy Maxwell, who removed to Elmira from Virginia in 1792; great-granddaughter of Guy Maxwell, her first ancestor in America, who came from Carlaverock, Scotland, in 1768, and settled in Martinsburg, Va. Left motherless at an early age, she was sent to Milan, Ohio, to live with an aunt, and there attended school. In 1861 she was married to Franklin Converse of WestHeld, Mass., and until 1866 travelled extensively in the United States and Europe, contributing to the press under the pen names, " Musidora" and by the Seneca Indians, as had also been her father and grandfather before her. She was designated as the great-granddaughter of the famous chief Red Jacket. She was always a defender of the rights of the New York Indians and in 1891 she used every effort to defeat a bill before the New York assembly to deprive the Indians of their lands. Before the hearing of the Indians by the committee on the bill Mrs. Converse was invited to sit in the Six Nation council at Albany. After the bill was defeated, in recognition of her ser- vices, she was received by the Seneca national
 * ' Salome." In 1884 she was formally adopted

council as a legal member of their nation and given the name of " Ya-ie-wa-noh, " meaning ambassador, or the one who watches. In the autumn of 1891 she was installed as a Six Nation chief, by a Six Nation condolence council, an honor never before given to a woman by the North American Indians. She is the author of Sheaves, a volume of poems (1883) ; and had ready for the press in 1899 : TJie Eeligioiis Festivals of the Iroquois Indians; Mythology and Folk Lore of the North American Indians, and Indian Legends.

CONVERSE, James Booth, author and jour- nalist, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., April 8, 1844 ; son of the Rev. Amasa and Flavia (Booth) Converse; and grandson of Joel Converse. He was graduated at the College of New Jersey, A.B., 1865, A.M. 1868, and at the Union theological seminary, Va., 1870. He was licensed to preach in 1869, and was ordained by the presbytery of East Hanover in 1871. He was pastor at Ma- kemie, Va., 1870-73; editor of the Christian Ob- server, Louisville, Ky., 1872-79; evangelist in the presbytery of Holston and KnoxviUe, 1880-81 ; pastor at Blountville, 1881-87 ; and editor of the Christian Patriot, 1890-95. He pviblished A Sum- mer Vacation Abroad (1878) ; The Bible and Land (^1888) ; Justice (1899).

CONVERSE, Julius, governor of Vermont, was born at Stafford, Conn., Dec. 17, 1798; son of Josepli and Mary (Johnson) Converse; grandson of Lieut. Josiah Converse; great-grandson of Major James Converse, and lineally descended from Deacon Edward Converse, who came from England with Winthrop's colony in 1630. Julius Converse was taken to Randolph, Vt., in 1801 and was educated at Randolph academy. He was admitted to the bar in 1826 and practised at Bethel until 1840, when he removed to Wood- stock. He represented Bethel in the Vermont house of representatives several terms; was elected to the first state senate in 1836, and was three times re-elected. After his removal to Woodstock he was again a representative in the state legislature, and was state attorney from 1844 to 1847. He was lieutenant-governor of Vermont, 1850-51, and governor, 1872-74. He died at Dixville Notch, N.H., Aug. 16, 1885.

CONVERSE, Thomas Edwards, journalist, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 25, 1841 ; son of the Rev. Amasa and Flavia (Booth) Converse. He was graduated at the College of New Jersey, A.B. 1862, A.M. 1865, and at Union theological seminary, Virginia, 1868. He was licensed to preach in 1868 and was ordained by the presby- tery of West Hanover the same year. He was a missionary to China, 1869-71 ; pastor .at Wood- stock, Va., 1871-75; at Bardstown, Ky., 1875-79,